


Genuine?

by EaSnowPw



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M, Visored
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 06:40:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14396442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EaSnowPw/pseuds/EaSnowPw
Summary: Her new Captain was strange. His reiatsu, his grin, his manners, everything was different from Aizen. It unnerved her that she couldn't quite describe him.





	Genuine?

At first, she found the new captain to be strange and quirky. His Hollow mask really didn't help at all. Older division members had told her that he had his heart in the right place, so she decided to keep a professional front. His attempts at charming others were lame, but funny in their own way. He was a goofball, she decided. The elders said he used to be different. More serious. Less flirty. Oh well.  
He didn't waste much time in demonstrating his authority. Lola obeyed to the best of her ability. She showed her support of this new _strange_ person she was supposed to follow. Between her and Momo, their division bowed to him. They were still broken from Aizen's betrayal, but those who remembered Hirako and understood his past fully accepted him.  
"He's genuine. Occasionally unprofessional, but don't sweat it."  
"Lazy, but I guess he shows his faults at least."  
"Tries to keep up with the World of the Living fashion." A roll of the eyes.  
Lola eventually made up her mind about what kind of person Hirako was and stopped asking around.  
She'd settled on **lame.**

* * *

 

Roughly a week after his reinstallation, 6 days after she'd stopped caring about him in particular and right when she had finally gotten used to him, he asked to speak to her in private.  
She entered his office just as Momo was leaving for some errands.  
"Any idea as to what our captain might want with me?"  
The small vicecaptain shrugged.  
"I don't know. He thanked me for not being a pain during his first days, so maybe it's something similar."  
So it wasn't anything bad.  
"Oh, okay. Thanks."

* * *

 

He was at his desk, with the usual pile of paper in front of him. Not too big, not too small. Her eyes briefly scanned Momo's desk, which was similarly empty. Lola knew how much work the bureaucracy implied. Momo was efficient, but between the two girls, they were nearly driven insane by the constant influx.  
Lazy. Cross.  
"Hello, sweetheart."  
Unprofessional. Checked. Underlined. Bolded.  
"Good morning, captain."  
He rolled his eyes.  
"You and Momo are the same, geez. Aizen ain't around no more, kids."  
Lola sighed.  
"Old habits die hard. Besides, formality is a rather efficient front in keeping detached."  
He tsk'ed.  
"Is it? Momo seems to think otherwise."  
"I was barely noticed by my previous captain. It was frustrating, but now I'm grateful for it. I yearned for recognition, which I got while we were captainless. It was generally exhausting and unwanted so returning to my old duties was a relief. Hinamori-san," she made a point of looking him in the eyes, "got plenty of attention and recognition during the deceit, only to be reduced to being treated like a helpless child since then. It's better with you around, but still not how it used to be. Of course she would long for the past and its reminders."  
Lola noticed how his face had shifted during her talk. His teasing demeanor had vanished. He was more serious now, taking in her words and body language.  
"You are more perceptive than I expected." Even his voice had hardened. She felt a strange flash of warmth twirl around her insides, but ignored it. "But I guess someone had to be. You're probably smart enough to know that our conversation should remain confidential, right?"  
"That depends on the topic and content."  
He grinned, but it had a dark, satisfied tint. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why she liked it.  
"Fair enough. I'm worried about Momo. Other captains have expressed concern as well, not to mention disbelief at her ability to function on a daily basis." Lola stood silent, so he continued. "I wanted to know your opinion on her recovery."  
"Unohana-Taicho must have already filled you in." He deadpanned. She touched her hair sheepishly. "I... I don't know for sure. We were never close, especially with Aizen around. After his betrayal... It's safe to say that I had to step up a lot further than I thought I would." Lola sighed. "She's not fine. She's clinging to the past, then the present comes around to haunt her. She's scared. Aizen made her depend on him. He saw her for the vulnerable fawn she was and made her a scapegoat. And, to be fair... it's not my place to help." Hirako finally seemed surprised. Everything she'd said so far had only seemed to follow into the map he'd laid out.  
'Just like Aizen.'  
Genuine. Question mark.  
"She's my superior. I'm supposed to look up at her. It's different for you, but for me, the most I have to do is support her leadership. We are not close friends. She barely noticed me before. Aizen didn't even see me. I will provide any information I can, Hirako Taicho and keep this conversation private, but I will make no further efforts."  
Hirako sighed and stood up, then went to her. Lola swallowed hard, trying to control her emotions.  
"Let go of the past, Lola."  
Her eyes widened.  
"Wha... I don't understand?"  
He sighed, a sad smile tugging at his lips.  
"You're jealous of Momo. You were close to hating her even. I know how Aizen was. Believe me, I know."  
His voice had softened.  
Unpredictable. Check.  
"He made everyone love him, yearn to be around him. Then he fulfilled that dream for her. It might be different for the rest of the division, who are nowhere close to her level in Kido, but you surpass her in kenjutsu even on a bad day. You could have been in her place. He could have chosen you." Lola was shocked by the amount of sheer rage his words brought out. "You could have had her rank."  
She shook her head and stepped back.  
"No... I..."  
Shinji grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to face him.  
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter, Lola. What he did doesn't matter anymore. Why he picked her doesn't matter."  
"He chose her because she was weak," Lola replied. But she couldn't hold on to her anger when Hirako was looking at her like that.  
"And I choose you both. I choose her because she survived," Lola scoffed, "and I choose you to help me help her. I'll train you both. I'll give you recognition. I'll give her strength. And when the time comes, I'll let one of you or both move up the ranks. Just help me."  
"And her."  
His hands tightened their grip on her shoulders.  
"You were affected by Aizen as well, Lola. Just in a different way. He affects everyone."  
"Not you, though."  
She could feel his hurt. She could feel his reiatsu shifting and surging before he remembered to put a leash on it.  
"More than you can imagine." He let her go and stepped back. "I think I said all I had to say. I've made my offer, you rejected it." Hirako took a stack of papers from his desk and handed them to her. "Deliver these to the 1st division, please."  
"I accept your offer." That made him freeze with the papers halfway in the air. "I want to remember who I was before Aizen filled me with envy. I want to move on and stop feeling such a darkness inside myself."  
'I want to remember why I used to help anyone around me and now I won't.'  
He smiled and this time it was genuine. Not sad, not goofy, not fake.  
"Thank you."  
Genuine. Still question mark.

* * *

 

Hirako kept his promise. He pushed her and Momo together. He trained them together, never against each other, always competing, always balanced, always equal in his eyes. Lola found herself liking this new side of his.  
What she didn't like was the way he referred to them as 'his girls' or how he would shove all formality out the door during training with the entire division.  
As time went on, she got used to him and his strange antics became habit. Then she began enjoying his attention.  
"You like him more than as a captain," Momo said one day after he'd left. Lola blushed bright red. "I think he feels the same."  
"No way, Momo. He doesn't. He always flirts with everyone, but has expressed no particular interest in anyone."  
She also happened to know why. She hadn't only gotten closer to Momo, but to Hirako as well.

* * *

 

"How come you're still single, captain?" she'd made the mistake of asking one day.  
"Why? Interested?" But she had known him for long enough at that point to see the game he was playing.  
"You're not interested in anyone?" she'd foolishly pressed.  
"Maybe I am in the infamous friendzone," he teased.  
"They wouldn't appreciate your flirting habits."  
"Too bad." His teasing mood was vanishing.  
"But why...?"  
"How could anyone want any sort of future with something like me, Lola?" he finally asked, looking away from her. She felt the pain he was showing her almost physically. "Kisuke barely knows how long we can live. He has no idea if the... this thing is inheritable. I personally don't know for how long I can keep being the one in charge." He took a deep breath. "So drop it."  
It would have been a good time to confess her feelings. It would have been a great idea to just tell him that he was wrong, there was someone, despite all he'd said. But his words had shocked her into silence. She only managed a tiny, stupid apology and a hug. His reiatsu was vibrating in a way he'd managed to steel his body against showing and it tugged at her heart with painful strings.

* * *

 

"He has occasionally shown particular interest in you. Though he always seems to pull back. Almost jump back when it becomes too obvious."  
Lola just shook her head.  
"I can't, Momo. And it's not because I don't know what I'm getting into. I do, better than you think. But I'm scared. Not just for myself, but for him as well."  
"We can all die any day," Momo finally said. "He's being sent in some of the worst missions, many times unfairly so. He returns to his friends who all hooked up among themselves, at least those in Sereitei. His chambers are usually empty at night and when they're not, it's some cheap woman who gets kicked out first thing in the morning. What worse can your confession do?"  
"Break our dynamic."  
"It's already broken. Today was my last day. Shiro-chan will start training me for Bankai tomorrow. Hirako Taicho knows. I had to tell you myself." Lola froze. "Please tell him."

* * *

 

"I need to talk to you," Lola told Hirako that night, entering his office. He was, unsurprisingly, at his desk.  
"Can it wait until I finish this stack of papers?"  
"No. I barely have the guts to say it now."  
Her words surprised him, but he closed his pen and stood up. Her mouth froze as he approached her.  
'Say something. Start small, build up.'  
"Momo told me she'd be training with Hitsugaya Taicho from tomorrow."  
Hirako rolled his eyes.  
"Geez, is that it? Do you wanna stop training as well? You don't have to keep coming if you don't want to. I enjoy sleeping in."  
"That's not it. She... encouraged me to..."  
'Confess my feelings...'  
"... not let excuses like 'group dynamic' get in the way of what I need to tell you." She was blushing now. Great.  
Hirako's eyes widened. He was catching on.  
"Lola?"  
She tried to force herself to overcome her emotions, but couldn't seem to get them under wraps. Hirako grabbed her shoulders, then pulled her into his arms. She felt like she would die of hyperventilation. Slowly, when she realized that he was not going to do anything else but wait for her, she relaxed. He noticed and loosened his grip, letting her step back. He smiled warmly and the mutual knowledge that passed between them dispelled any nervousness.  
"I have feelings for you," she began. "I don't care one bit about the things which you listed that should bother me. I trust you. You saved my life several times already. If this is a mistake, I accept the consequences."  
"It can't be a mistake." He gently cupped her cheek, enjoying the way she leaned into his hand. "I'm sorry I scared you back then with all my depressive talk. I feel the same way you do." He gently drew her in for a kiss. "I promise..."

Genuine. Checked.


End file.
